With the 70th Assembly seat about to be vacated by incumbent Assemblymember Bonnie Lowenthal, two Long Beach political veterans will be vying to fill the spot: former 7th District Councilmember Tonia Reyes Uranga and current 4th District Councilmember Patrick O’Donnell.
O’Donnell formed a fundraising committee for the 2014 assembly election in December and Uranga recently filed her paperwork with the Secretary of State.
The assembly district–redrawn and approved on July 29 of last year–captures most of Long Beach and San Pedro with slivers of Wilmington and Harbor City. Lowenthal won her third and final term in the district after beating Martha Flores-Gibson last November.
Uranga served the 7th District in Long Beach for two terms from 2002 to 2010. In April of her last year, she attempted to run as a write-in and eventually lost to current Councilmember James Johnson. She currently serves as Executive Director of the Miguel Contreras Foundation, an organization aimed at focusing on “underserved, low wage, and immigrant communities.”
O’Donnell similarly ran as a write-in last year following his two terms in the 4th District, eventually beating grassroots candidate Daryl Supernaw in a run-off.
Due to the Top Two Candidates Open Primary Act passed by the voters in 2010, the primary assembly election will occur in June of 2014, where the top two finishers–regardless of party affiliations–will run against each other in the November election. Both O’Donnell and Uranga are Democrats.
If O’Donnell wins, it would force a special election in the City of Long Beach to fill his vacated council seat.
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